Winners of five of their last six. The Wildcats (7-4) have started to heat up at the perfect time.
To finish its non-conference slate, Northwestern volleyball took to Worthen Arena to take on the hosting Ball State Cardinals (9-2) and the visiting IU Indy Jaguars (5-8) in a round-robin last week. NU stayed in control both days of the event, holding its opponent to 20 or fewer points in three of the seven sets it played.
Thursday, Sept. 17 at Ball State
The Cardinals might have been the toughest opponent Northwestern has seen thus
far as a potential NCAA Tournament team out of the MAC. That didn’t matter to Mara Štiglic, who delivered the best game of her career: a personal-best 22 kills with a season-high 14 digs for the fourth double-double of her career. From both pins on the floor, she seemed unstoppable. Inevitable, if you will.
When you’re hot, you get fed the ball. Štiglic totaled 49 swings on Thursday night…and still managed to hit over .300. A ridiculous number.
But as masterful as this was, it might not even be the most impressive thing you see in that night’s box score. Bella Bullington found the floor 17 times on .531 hitting, which was her highest of the season at the time.
Spoiler alert: she topped it by hitting .565 the next night.
As a team, NU hit .340 and on the defensive end, totaled nine blocks and 71 digs, the third- and second- highest totals this year, respectively. Štiglic had a major hand in the front-row defense, alongside Hayley Schaaf, with four blocks apiece, while Lauren Dignan went low for 22 digs.
Ellie Stiernagle brought it all together with 55 assists, the most by a Northwestern setter since 2023 — the last time the ‘Cats ran a 5-1 system with legendary setter Alexa Rousseau. This is the first time Tim Nollan has ran a 5-1 at NU and hasn’t run the system since his final year at Grand Canyon. Not to mention, he’s doing it with a first-year. It’s gone swimmingly, to say the least.
Friday, Sept. 18 vs. IU Indy
Bullington’s efficiency, combined with Štiglic’s dominance, proved too much for the Jaguars to handle on Friday in a three-set sweep. NU set the tone early by building a 7-2 lead out of the gate, and despite IU Indy battling back to even the score at 15, the Wildcats refused to relent.
Sets one and two were entirely controlled by Northwestern, but the third was a bit different than what we’ve seen out of the ‘Cats this season.
Set three was where NU was tested with a seven-point deficit. That’s where Campbell Paris comes in with back-to-back kills to get the Wildcats back in it.
Northwestern proceeded to go on a blistering 13-2 run to seal the deal and with the set 25-23. Its top three outsides took control and capitalized on IU errors in a cerebral destruction of the Jaguar lead.
What a way to generate momentum into the toughest conference slate imaginable. At one point in that set, it seemed like lightning might strike twice and the ‘Cats would be reverse swept for the second time in three games. Any thought that followed that wavelength was killed on the spot.
NU comes back home to open up the doors to Welsh-Ryan Arena for Big Ten play against two west coast foes. On Thursday, it hosts No. 23 USC and on Saturday, it welcomes UCLA. Both contests are set for a 7 p.m. first serve and will be streamed on Big Ten Plus (B1G+).
